Dark Romanticism Vs Transcendentalism Essay

Dark Romanticism is a literary subgenre which emphasizes on a sinful side of a human; the authors who followed this movement were interested in psychology and morality. Edgar Allan Poe, who was strongly interested in self-destructive human nature, and Herman Melville, whose themes of mystery and madness are also very remarkable, were other famous representatives of this literary movement. Sometimes Dark Romanticism is said to be close to the Transcendentalism literary movement, though they are quite different. Transcendentalism

Romantic literary texts focus on the expression of emotion. Authors during the Romantic period developed and integrated the idea of the individual being the main focus in life. Romantic authors focused on the individual being at the center of their own happiness and destiny and evil dwelling outside mankind. Dark Romantics believed that evil is not only found in nature and in other people but evil also dwells inside every human being. Dark Romantics argued that earlier writers had ignored the darker side of

Literature helped describe the movement of Romanticism because Romantics embraced nature, so they exalted the creative individual in the person of the hero. (Fiero) Much like the hero’s from stories of the past, the Romantic hero was an epic character with an awesome amount of ambition and determination. Unlike the fictional hero’s of the past that defended the traditions and moral values of a society, the Romantic hero might challenge to seek or reform them. (Fiero)

Anti-Transcendentalism, also known as dark romanticism, was a literary movement that revolved around the negative aspects of life and human nature.Many authors have made a name for themselves through Anti-Transcendentalism, including Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.Both writers used their stories as a platform to expose the "reality" of human nature. Hawthorne discuss' the foolishness found in youth in "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" while Poe writes about the tragedy of not being able to escape your fate in "The Fall of the House of the Usher". So essentially, each writer effortlessly demonstrates the traits of Anti-Transcendentalism.

Romanticism was an artistic movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth century that began a change in literature, art, religion, philosophy, etc. During the transition from then to now, The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving, The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benét, and The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe all resemble what the Romantics were trying to express at the time. The main difference between the Rationalists and the Romantics is that Rationalists believe everything can be solved by human reason while the Romantics thought nature was the key to solving things. Also, to the Rationalists, the city is a place for success while to the Romantics, it is a place of corruption and death. The Romantics most common journey was to the countryside because it symbolized freedom, moral clarity, and healthy living. The Romantics proved through these three pieces that one should focus on being a good person and helping others rather than money and power because everyone ends

The biggest difference is their strongly contrasting beliefs about whether humanity is good or evil. Transcendentalists believe that every person, no matter how evil or cruel, has some good in them. Anti-transcendentalist or as you called them Dark Romantics (Poe, Melville and the such) believe just the opposite. They think that every person, no matter how good, has some evil in them.

They explored the conflicts between good and evil. They left nothing to the side Doing so made the stories have a dark mood, showing the effects of madness like in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, you could slowly see Roderick grow more insane as the story progressed until the end of the story where he dies. Transcendentalism focused on most of the same romanticism beliefs but they were more optimistic about it. The optimism comes in hand with their main concern of the journey of the spirit. Their goal is the move beyond the common understanding and have your own individual mindset.

American Romanticism/Gothicism is a very interesting literary period. American romanticism is characterized on the focus on the tragic and the belief of sin and evil. It pays attention to the mysteries of life and it does not stress the cynical. It has a respect for human nature and all of its struggles. Dark romanticism is very different from transcendentalism. Transcendentalists saw people as good, unlike dark romantics. Dark romantics saw that people could be evil and impure. Also unlike transcendentalists, they believed that original sin is responsible for the evil that was existent inside everyone.

The Romantic Era featured two sub categories that had similarities as well as differences; Dark Romantics and Transcendentalists. They could be compared and contrasted by their use of supernatural and spiritual forces and how those powers affected the characters and their perspectives. The first text is a Dark Romantic piece,“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe. This piece is about the main character who narrates the hallucinations he experiences. His dynamic perspective builds throughout the text as his addiction to opium intensifies. The second piece is also in the Dark Romantic category and is called “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main character and antagonist is a scientist by the name of Aylmer who has a wife with a distinct birthmark upon her face. Aylmer unravels as the text continues. The first Transcendentalist text is “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson narrates this piece himself and the subject matter emphasizes individualism and his hopes for the transformation of society. Lastly is “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau. He into nature to live alone and shares his experiences and reasoning behind it.These pieces work together and against each other to exhibit how the supernatural and spiritual forces influence the characters in each text.

American Literature is diverse in its categories and even more divers in its content. The Era of Romanticism (1800 – 1803) had the philosophy of imagination over reason. Writes wrote about scenarios that were not possible to real society. From these writers stemmed the Transcendentalists and Anti-transcendentalists. Transcendentalists believed Nature was good and that man was also good. In addition man should give up all earthly possessions and move to nature to meditate and realize the goodness of one’s self. Anti-transcendentalists came into contrast with that belief of man. They believed nature was good but man was evil and that man would try to destroy nature, and ultimately fail. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an Anti-transcendentalist of the

Transcendentalism was largely influenced by the earlier Romantic Movement which was filled with innovative and imaginative ideas. Similar to the Romantic's Transcendentalist wanted to break away from the old European models of organized institutions such as religion and politics. There was also the strict confines of the Age of Reason's rationalist way of thinking that stirred up a rebellious reaction within the literary traditional period of Transcendentalism. Transcendentalist believed religion and politics negatively tainted an individual’s innocence.

Transcendentalism emphasized the power of one’s intuition and had a positive and educational tone, while Dark Romanticism had a more pessimistic and dark tone. In addition, Transcendentalism states that individuals’ intuition is crucial to understand life and attain happiness. However, Dark Romantic characters that follow their intuition and act illogically usually come to a gloomy end and fail to achieve success.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) born in the United States was a poet, writer, critic, and journalist recognized as one of the greatest exponents of the Dark Romanticism (Ultan and Olson, 51). Dark Romanticism is an American literary subgenre emerged in the nineteenth century from the philosophical movement called transcendentalism. Dark Romanticism, broadly speaking, rely very little on perfection as an innate quality of the human being, a key idea of the transcendentalists (Howard, 1). As consequence, its characters are prone to sin and self-destruction, since by nature, they are not wise or divine beings. One of the most representative authors of the current is Poe, who is

Transcendentalism and Romanticism were social, artistic, and literary movements that originated in the 18th century in New England. It arose as a reaction to protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality at the time. The two movements have many differences and comparisons that both intertwine to create a positive and negative aspect of human nature. Transcendentalism and romanticism have both a negative and positive aspect of human nature, and both compare and contrast within one another because they stand out during the time period, and was an important side of the industrial revolution. Transcendentalism was expressed through central figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who wrote many novels

Dark romanticism is a subgenre of writing that took a different approach to the fantasy, and it submerged into American literature in 1800-1860. And it emphasized humans weakness and vulnerability to sin and destruction. The main characteristic of this genre was horrific themes and creepy symbols. Since many famous writers wielded it into their writings such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Emily Dickenson.